Assuming that's insanity (every geth has shields so it must be at least hardcore, he doesn't say), that's pretty impressive, but how many times do you think he frapsed it before he got it right? In ME2 one wrong move is instant death on insanity with a vanguard.

He shows the difficulty and spec at the beginning of the run. As for how many times he took frapsing it, I'd be surprised if he took more than two. If you check his account, he has videos up of all the more difficult runs in the game done at similar speed. My runs are roughly as fast if a bit messier (taking health damage, missing reloads, etc) and I die in roughly 1/3 of my vanguard mission runs but my excuse is that I normally do Sentinel. A mattock soldier can put out roughly as much DPS but can't shut down the spawns.

I never bother with the concentration mod after playing sufficient multiplayer. You don't get time dilation in MP, so you just learn to headshot without it. I do miss sometimes (notably if someone Sabotages my target and it whips around suddenly to attack something behind it), but not being dependent on it lets me take penetration or extended barrel and ups my damage by a fair bit.

I love the time dilation, it makes it trivial to pop off headshots or mail shots on moving targets, one right after the other.

Sure, but carrying barrel and/or pierce makes taking down Brutes and Banshees (neither of which take extra damage on headshots) a lot easier.

Pffft. Well it's a good thing I got my Mantis to 10 in MP about a zillion years ago (i.e. soon after release) because I don't think a New Game+ is happening soon.

Except for hijacking an Atlas, because obviously I need All The Gamerscore. I've been a sentinel warp/throw casting the entire game so I never carried a sniper rifle to actually go about hijacking one. I imagine it's not too hard to shoot a dude through the glass a few times.

Oh wow, On my first run through, I somehow missed the presence of Matriarch Aethyta in the Presidium on the Citadel. She is the bartender you meet on Illium in ME2 who has an interesting tie to one of your companions. Anyway, you have a very interesting conversation, especially if you are romantically involved with Liara. I just ran into her with this alt Shepard.

There is a crewman on the Normandy that you can stop and have salute you.

Oh wow, On my first run through, I somehow missed the presence of Matriarch Aethyta in the Presidium on the Citadel. She is the bartender you meet on Illium in ME2 who has an interesting tie to one of your companions. Anyway, you have a very interesting conversation, especially if you are romantically involved with Liara. I just ran into her with this alt Shepard.

There is a crewman on the Normandy that you can stop and have salute you.

Make sure you hear ALL of the interaction between her and the crew member. It's... enlightening.

Wrex: I prefer my salarian liver served raw.Salarian guards give Wrex the Evil EyeJavik: He is correct. It was a... delicacy in my cycle.

Javik's thoughts on Salarians are awesome. "Did I mention Salarians uses to like their eyes." Also, he has some interesting shit to say on Thessia. I had to Youtube it because I always have Garrus at my side, but the moment I hit the temple, I figured there would be worthwhile dialog.

On my first run through, I had Liara and Garrus with me 99% of the time, including Thessia. The conversation there made me really want to bring Javik at least once. That'll be this time around since I'm going to keep him with me through this run.

hahahaha! If you make a certain choice in ME1, Joker has something to say when the subject comes up in ME3

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About taking care of the Rachni queen in ME1 and then having to deal with the corrupted construct in ME3.

Joker: Want to nuke it from orbit? It's the only way to be - nah, it's probably fine.

If you don't know the pop culture reference then I don't know what you're doing on Ars. Regardless, turn in your nerd card.

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That whole sequence was obviously inspired by said property. Flamethrowers, eggs, secreted resins, drones, queen... It was screaming Aliens at me the whole time. To a greater degree than the sequence in ME1, I think.

Going to play the whole series end-to-end for the first time. Which DLC is mandatory for someone with a few dollars spare who wants a good story? I already know to get LotSB for ME2, too.

e: ME1 is horribly supported now, or is that just me?

I could ask the same about ME one specifically, at some point I'm going to replay it, are BDTS and PS worth the effort? I didn't even bother even though BDTS is free because it seemed annoying.As for ME2, I'd say Arrival and Lair are the "mandatory" ones, Overlord is so-so but has it's moments, and I rather like the Zaeed and Katsumi missions. And of course there's a shit ton of free/cheap stuff that's mostly just filler in my view.

Going to play the whole series end-to-end for the first time. Which DLC is mandatory for someone with a few dollars spare who wants a good story? I already know to get LotSB for ME2, too.

e: ME1 is horribly supported now, or is that just me?

BDTS is actually a lot of fun, an extra area with a set of missions and an overarcing objective. Not terribly long. Does tie into ME3 albeit briefly. PS is kind of lame imo. "Danger room" style gameplay where you try to beat certain times or scores. If you're in it for the loot though, PS makes a whole lot of gear from low-end to high-end available to you.

As for ME2 I would say its worth playing all of them. Firewalker is by far the weakest of the bunch due to its awful vehicle-based segments and sparse storyline, but the ending nets you a cool cabin decoration. Definitely pick up LoTSB, Kasumi, and Zaeed, and Overlord and Arrival are worth it for the story elements.

As for ME2 I would say its worth playing all of them. Firewalker is by far the weakest of the bunch due to its awful vehicle-based segments and sparse storyline, but the ending nets you a cool cabin decoration. Definitely pick up LoTSB, Kasumi, and Zaeed, and Overlord and Arrival are worth it for the story elements.

As for ME2 I would say its worth playing all of them. Firewalker is by far the weakest of the bunch due to its awful vehicle-based segments and sparse storyline, but the ending nets you a cool cabin decoration. Definitely pick up LoTSB, Kasumi, and Zaeed, and Overlord and Arrival are worth it for the story elements.

Zaeed is free (part of the Cerberus Network stuff), isn't he?

Yep, but you do have to install it specifically, it doesn't just come on the disc or anything (at least it didn't for me). His loyalty mission is pretty fun.

Going to play the whole series end-to-end for the first time. Which DLC is mandatory for someone with a few dollars spare who wants a good story? I already know to get LotSB for ME2, too.

e: ME1 is horribly supported now, or is that just me?

All DLC for ME1 and ME2 are worthwhile with the exception of Pinnacle Station and Firewalker. Pinnacle Station is only worthwhile if you are interested in the action and in collecting loot. It's only purpose is to provide a fighting arena. Firewalker is annoying because of the awful mechanics involved with controlling that vehicle and because most of the missions don't have anything of substance to offer. You are not allowed to leave the vehicle while on a mission nor are you allowed to save while on a mission. So if you screw up you have to go all the way back to the beginning of a mission. It is just a huge leap backwards in gaming.

Is project overlord reliant on the Firwewalker mission pack? And I thought FW was free - it ought to have been, hell, they ought to have paid us to play that lame DLC.

No, you don't need Firewalker in order to play Overlord. You fly the Hammerhead in Overlord regardless of whether or not you have FIrewalker installed; the only difference is that the Hammerhead doesn't show up in the shuttle bay after.

So I got my first paramour achievement on this runthrough (of the whole series) in ME3, after botching the attempt in ME1 and not bothering with it in ME2 due to a certain character being largely unavailable. I have to say, it was a much more tender moment in ME3 after seeing the relationship mature over 2.5 games. Makes me less annoyed that I didn't put enough time into it in ME1 to have the option.

Arrival is not worth $7. It's not even worth $3. If you're an OCD completionist, then sure, buy it. It's just you, no squadmates. Upgrade and credit rewards detailed on the Wiki.

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Effects in ME3: if you complete Arrival, then one of your war assets (a Marine division, IIRC) has a higher value. Regardless of you doing it, that Batarian still has it in for you for blowing the system along with the Mass Relay.

Arrival is not worth $7. It's not even worth $3. If you're an OCD completionist, then sure, buy it. It's just you, no squadmates. Upgrade and credit rewards detailed on the Wiki.

Spoiler: show

Effects in ME3: if you complete Arrival, then one of your war assets (a Marine division, IIRC) has a higher value. Regardless of you doing it, that Batarian still has it in for you for blowing the system along with the Mass Relay.

well I did say "worth playing". not necessarily worth buying In any case, to me the time investment is a lot more valuable than a few bucks (I mean that's just lunch) regardless, so that's what I'm rating them on. I thought arrival was worth the time I put into completing it.

...And that's not always accurate.

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If you mean the Batarian Balak at the end of Batarian Codes, he only shows up if you didn't play BDTS in ME1, or let him live at the end of BDTS. If you killed him in BDTS, you get an alternate sequence where you don't get a gun jammed in your back.

Arrival is not worth $7. It's not even worth $3. If you're an OCD completionist, then sure, buy it. It's just you, no squadmates. Upgrade and credit rewards detailed on the Wiki.

Spoiler: show

Effects in ME3: if you complete Arrival, then one of your war assets (a Marine division, IIRC) has a higher value. Regardless of you doing it, that Batarian still has it in for you for blowing the system along with the Mass Relay.

well I did say "worth playing". not necessarily worth buying In any case, to me the time investment is a lot more valuable than a few bucks (I mean that's just lunch) regardless, so that's what I'm rating them on. I thought arrival was worth the time I put into completing it.

Fair enough. I have it, I just felt, after the fact that I had paid too much. Especially in the shadow of Overlord and LotSB, it's not the great.

HexRei wrote:

...And that's not always accurate.

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If you mean the Batarian Balak at the end of Batarian Codes, he only shows up if you didn't play BDTS in ME1, or let him live at the end of BDTS. If you killed him in BDTS, you get an alternate sequence where you don't get a gun jammed in your back.

Ah, I guess I recalled wrong, or am confusing that with a different bit, but I do seem to recallw

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that you have to deal with a Batarian who is upset over the Bahak system.

You are right in that Arrival is not in the same league as Lair of the Shadow Broker nor Bring Down the Sky nor Overlord. You should have been able to play with a squad, for example, and there is no forking branch. It is an on rails short little adventure. But as it is I found it to be fun and the content to be compelling.

Oh wow, On my first run through, I somehow missed the presence of Matriarch Aethyta in the Presidium on the Citadel. She is the bartender you meet on Illium in ME2 who has an interesting tie to one of your companions. Anyway, you have a very interesting conversation, especially if you are romantically involved with Liara. I just ran into her with this alt Shepard.

There is a crewman on the Normandy that you can stop and have salute you.

Everything looks SO much better, especially those godawful science uniforms and other NPC clothes. It also includes the fix for Garrus's face texture and much more. I'm running this plus a separate texmod to make Liara's face more like the LotSB Liara / ME3 Liara face (for visual consistency across all three games), and it looks great.